Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler offers state of the team assessment

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Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler deflects a Red Wings shot past Ducks goaltender John Gibson during the second period of Tuesday’s game in Detroit. “He wants us focused on the guys going in for the rebound, the guys who are trying to screen him,” Fowler said of Gibson. “That’s our job. If the puck’s coming from the outside somewhere he’s going to make the save. It’s up to us to take care of some of the garbage in front of the net.” (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you wanted to know how the Ducks were doing to start the season, the NHL standings were a good place to start. If you wanted to learn more about their play than just a few raw facts, then defenseman Cam Fowler was a good person to ask.

Fowler praised John Gibson for his “spectacular” work in goal, the Ducks’ defense for playing better in front of the two-time All-Star and pleaded for patience with the team’s struggling power play, which was zero for the first four games of the season.

“He’s great,” Fowler said of Gibson, who didn’t play Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. “He’s making all the big saves and keeping us in the hockey games. Collectively, too, I think we’re doing a better job of not giving up those goals that he doesn’t have a chance, on those backdoor plays.”

Gibson (3-1-0) led the NHL with a 1.26 goals-against average and a .961 save percentage going into Friday’s games around the league. Ryan Miller replaced Gibson in goal Friday, one night after Gibson was in net for a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Ducks’ first defeat in 2019-20.

“Even though the shot total is a little bit higher than we’d like it to be, I think we’re doing a good job of clearing the rebounds,” Fowler said of the Ducks’ improved play in front of Gibson. “But he’s been spectacular. That’s a big reason why we are where we are today.”

Gibson has given his teammates simple instructions, according to Fowler.

“He wants us focused on the guys going in for the rebound, the guys who are trying to screen him,” Fowler said. “That’s our job. If the puck’s coming from the outside somewhere he’s going to make the save. It’s up to us to take care of some of the garbage in front of the net. I think so far we’ve done a decent job, but we can obviously get a lot better at it as well.”

The Ducks’ power play was 0 for 9 going into Friday’s game against the Blue Jackets, but Fowler suggested things weren’t as bad as they looked from afar. The Ducks were one of four teams without a man-advantage goal going into Friday.

“I know it’s a results-oriented thing, but I think we’re doing a lot of good things,” Fowler said. “The main thing is we’re creating momentum for our team. We’re getting opportunities. Unfortunately, they’re not going in yet. If we continue to stick with it and stay patient, they’ll start to fall for us.”

The key is moving bodies as well as the puck.

“We don’t want to get stagnant,” Fowler said. “When we get in trouble, we end up standing still. There’s no movement. The penalty-killers don’t have to change anything. So we’re doing a good job of that (moving bodies). We have guys like (Troy) Terry, (Ondrej) Kase, (Rickard) Rakell, who can shoot off the flank, which creates a lot of difficulty for the penalty-killers. We’ve just got to stick with it.”

GETZLAF SETS MARK

Center Ryan Getzlaf played in his 989th NHL game on Friday, breaking a tie with former teammate Corey Perry for the most in Ducks history. Asked after Thursday’s game what it meant to tie Perry’s mark, Getzlaf deadpanned, “It means I’ve been here a long time.”

Elliott Teaford covers the Anaheim Ducks for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He covered the Ducks for 12 years, including the Stanley Cup season, for the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Breeze before returning to the beat in 2018 for SCNG. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.

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